Not Even Jesus

This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.

‚ÄîActs 2:32 (cf. 2:24, 3:15)

This is an important truth: ‚ÄúThis Jesus God raised.‚Äù It‚Äôs important for the obvious reason that there is no gospel without the resurrection, but it‚Äôs also important because it demonstrates the impossibility of any degree of synergy between God and man in salvation.

It‚Äôs a lesson we learn from Ezekiel‚Äôs vision of the valley of dry bones, and from the resurrection of Lazarus: neither the bones nor Lazarus could give themselves life. Only the divine command could make ‚Äúthese bones live.‚Äù But nowhere is that truth demonstrated more absolutely than in the simple phrase ‚ÄúThis Jesus God raised.‚Äù

Think about it: God raised him. Jesus didn‚Äôt rise by his own power. He laid there, in Dickensian terms, ‚Äúdead as a doornail,‚Äù until God raised him. How, then, can any of us think we cooperated in any way with our own spiritual resurrection when not even Jesus, the God-man, could raise himself from the dead?